Advertisement blocking associated with communication networks, such as the Internet, may include a variety of technologies and devices (both hard and software) aimed at preventing advertisements from being called by advertisement servers and displayed on Internet users' browsers when webpages are visited. Multiple parties provide advertisement blocking solutions, and the most common way consumers block advertisements today is by using Internet web browser extensions, such as AdBlock and AdBlock Plus. Overcoming advertisement blocking can be difficult because the technology may be based on open-source code and/or a database of blacklisted advertisements fed by a large and dynamic community of contributors.
There are numerous advertisement blocking browser extensions that consumers can download into a browser—including Internet Explorer® from Microsoft, Safari®, Chrome® from Google, Firefox, etc. Moreover, advertisement blocking can be installed on desktop Internet browsers for free via a browser's webstore or an advertisement blocking provider's website in just a few seconds. This makes downloading browser extensions seamless and strongly encourages adoption through viral sharing and word of mouth.
Advertisement blocking can also take the form of a hardware device to plug on an Internet router; this method is more common on enterprise routers—for companies that do not want their employees to access some Internet services. Tools like AdTrap2 may be used to block advertisements on multiple devices working on the same Internet connection—including mobile phones, which might not utilize browser extensions.
Note that a portion of advertisement users may use the program unknowingly and/or unwillingly. This may be the case, for example, with employees of companies imposing advertisement blocking on their servers, clients of Internet providers adding advertisement blocking on their routers, and/or clients of anti-virus solutions setting advertisement blocking options by default.
Many consumers recognize the fact that publishers need to display advertising in order to stay in business and produce content. Some advertisement blocking extension users are not opposed to all forms of advertising, and instead just use advertisement blocking to prevent the most “intrusive” forms of advertising on the Internet. However, as a by-product of this approach nearly all advertising may be blocked, which prevents publishers from monetizing almost the entire portion of users on their site who use advertisement blocking.
Also note that many publishers rely upon advertising sales to sustain their businesses. It is a primary income source to pay bills and keep the business afloat. Content production may be expensive, and advertising rates online are relatively low in comparison to other forms of media, and as a result publishers often operate on thin margins in order to stay in business. With an ever greater portion of advertising revenue taken away from publishers due to advertisement blocking, their long term financial viability may suffer.
An advertisement blocking web browser extensions may provide functionality for consumers to “unblock” advertising locally on particular sites—or even unblocking certain advertising companies across the Internet. This functionality is included in a number of extensions to enable users to generate advertising revenue on websites they frequent often (in an effort so they can help financially sustain those sites). However, most users do not tweak or change the default settings on their advertisement blocking extension after it is installed, which means that most advertising is always blocked by default.
It would be desirable to provide systems and methods to automatically, effectively, and efficiently circumvent advertisement blocking associated with a communication network.